LIVING IN THE SOAK ZONE

Devotional for the Baptism of Our Lord, January 7, 2018

based upon Mark 1: 4-11

If you have ever been to Sea World then you know that there are certain sections in the seating that they always give you fair warning about.  If you sit too close – in fact, if you sit anywhere in the entire front half – at what used to be the Shamu show, you will certainly get wet.  And not only wet, you will get totally soaked.  Which is why they call that area the Soak Zone.

I remember going to the Shamu show at Sea World in San Diego.  Shamu and several of his friends lined up around the perimeter of the pool and then, with their heads down in the water, used their flukes to totally splash the people in the stands.  You just know that those whales were totally enjoying it.  But many of the people were not enjoying it.  Not only because they were now soaked to the bone and the water is very cold, salty, and smells like fish, but also because of all their non-waterproof and expensive camera and video equipment.  

But then there were the children and young people who had gathered right at the edge of the pool in the hope and expectation that they will get soaked.  They squealed with joy as the water drenched them.  Unlike the people with the expensive camera equipment, they took great delight in their cold, wet, salty, and smelly soaking by Shamu.

Through our baptisms, we have been called by God to Living in the Soak Zone.  And yet I notice that a lot of people want to avoid the Soak Zone, just like at Sea World.  What does it mean to live in the Soak Zone?  What all is involved with being baptized into Jesus Christ?  The apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, “We were buried with Him by baptism into death, so that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” (6: 4)  What does that mean?  What is it like Living in the Soak Zone?  I can think of three things.

First, LIVING IN THE SOAK ZONE – BEING BAPTIZED – IS ABOUT BEGINNING ANEW.  It is about having a fresh start.  According to the apostle Paul, we emerge from baptism to “walk in newness of life.”  Baptism transforms us.  Having been baptized, we are to think, speak, act, and live in ways that represent Christ to the world.  Living in the Soak Zone – baptism – transforms selfishness into generosity, prejudice into love, and hesitancy into boldness.  Does all that happen the moment we are baptized?  No.  But these are the kinds of things that happen to us as we continue to live in the Soak Zone.  The Christian life is an ongoing transformation in which we continue to be shaped by the presence of Christ within us.

Second, LIVING IN THE SOAK ZONE – BEING BAPTIZED – IS ABOUT BEING INCLUDED.  Through our baptisms we are included in the body of Jesus Christ.  Through our baptisms we receive a love that draws us in and holds us together.  It is a love that enables us to disagree without being disagreeable.  The waters of baptism are not only the means for the cleansing of sin. They also have the power to break down barriers between people.  Living in the Soak Zone, we share a common relationship with our Lord Jesus, in which old divisions and old designations no longer apply.  

Third, LIVING IN THE SOAK ZONE – BEING BAPTIZED – IS ABOUT BEING CALLED TO SERVICE.  With baptism comes the Holy Spirit, and with the Holy Spirit come gifts that are to be used in the service of God.  Too many view ministry just as something that the pastor and the other paid church staff do.  But according to the Bible, ministry is the work in which all baptized believers are to become involved in response to the call of God and Christ’s claim on our lives.  Baptism marked the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, and baptism also marks our call into ministry.  When we enter the household of God, we do so with the belief that God has called each one of us to some particular work that will utilize our gifts for building up the body of Christ and for making a better world.

And so, like the people at the Shamu show, we get a rather thorough soaking from the Holy Spirit at our baptisms.  Some will decide that they are not particularly fond of cold, salty, smelly water.  Especially if it costs them something – like their lives.  Which is a whole lot more costly than just expensive camera and video equipment.  And so they will do their best to move as quickly as they can out of the Soak Zone.  

Others will be like the children and young people, who gather at the edge of the pool and take great delight in being thoroughly soaked.  Even though the water is cold and salty and smells like fish, they will take great delight in following Jesus – even when following Him will take them out of their comfort zone into the Soak Zone of the Holy Spirit.

So how about you?  How do you feel about having been placed in the Soak Zone through your baptism?  Do you want to get out of it – and as quickly as possible?  Or do you take great delight in knowing that God is your Father, who gives you new beginnings, who has included you in His family, and who has called you into His service?

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

“ . . . so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known.” (Ephesians 3:10)

Christ Jesus, the wisdom of God: how manifold, indeed!  In Him, the creation itself shines in a new light: first, the light of God’s profound generosity (that He who lacks nothing should create anything at all!), and second, the light of our own purpose, that we (with all creation!) were created through Him and for Him.   Yet there is still more.

Faith in this wisdom, such faith as cherishes and adores Him, renews our minds.  Do you want to be broad-minded without being thick-headed?  Follow the Lord who so loved the world that He gave His life for it, even bore its sin.  Such wisdom teaches us to love in kind, with consideration for sin and its consequences, yet with the hope of forgiveness and a new life—and there is still more!

For if God created this manifold creation in its wonder, and then more wonderfully redeemed it, what shall the new creation be, the home of righteousness?  What wisdom have we not yet known—or as Jonathon Edwards put it, what colors have we not yet seen, and what sounds have we not yet heard?  Winter may be a time for dreaming, but Christmas and Epiphany—they are a time for wonder, and for praising God in His manifold wisdom.

LET US PRAY: Your wisdom transcends all things, O Lord, and yet marvelously upholds them, even as Your Son graciously dwells among His Church and nourishes it with His own body and blood.  Accept my praise and thanksgiving, O God, and renew me in Your light; through the Light of the world, Jesus Christ.  Amen

Pastor Steven K. Gjerde

Zion, Wausau

“For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you’?” (Hebrews 1:5)

The author of Hebrews wants his listeners to know that Jesus is higher than the angels.  Back then, as now, the glory of the angelic choirs could morph into a colorful mythology as people experimented with spirituality and sought “new ways” to be with the Divine.  The message of Hebrews is clear: no other bridge between God and creation but Jesus, His Son!

That message gives Christmas its edge.  Christmas does not only proclaim that God became flesh, but it also promises that this Baby is the One and Only.   Whatever ways we have chosen to get the Good Life, they are nothing if they have nothing to do with to the little Lord Jesus.

He is the Good Life, He is the Divine, He is the bridge.  In Him, the One who bears our flesh and bore our sin, even difficult jobs are worth doing, and difficult people are worth loving—we even find ourselves worth more than gold, oil, or water, loved enough that God would suffer pain to be with us.  Merry Christmas, friends—which is just another way of saying, He’s the One, and He’s yours.

LET US PRAY: All praise and honor to You, dear Father, for the gift of Your Son!  Amen

Pastor Steven K. Gjerde

Zion, Wausau   

THE SECOND PRIME OF LIFE

Devotional for December 31, 2017 based upon Luke 2: 22-40

Something I really enjoy watching or listening to is someone totally using their best gifts in the prime of their life.  Whether it is in music or sports, or the chance to hear really great preaching, or whatever, I enjoy seeing, hearing, or watching someone function when they are at their absolute best.

But then there are others who will say, “I am past my prime.  My best days are over.  The best days have all come and gone.”  I wonder if Simeon and Anna ever felt like that.

By the time we meet them, Simeon is an old man.  When he was younger, Luke tells us, “It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.”  Can you imagine what that would be like?  To be told that you would not die until something really great had happened.   

And there must have been a time when Anna dreamed of a glorious life.  But Luke tells us that her husband died just “seven years after her marriage.”  Things had not turned out like she had planned.  Anna was now eighty-four years old.  You get the picture of an older widow and an older single man now spending most of their time hanging around church.  Luke tells us, Anna “never left the temple,” but worshipped there day and night.  Most people would say that their best days were over.  The best had come and gone.  They were long past their prime.

But the world defines “the prime of life” in a way that is very different from the way in which God defines it.  The world sees the prime of life as that season when we are most physically strong and mentally alert.  God sees the prime of life as the season when we are the most spiritually strong and spiritually alert.  Exactly what Simeon and Anna’s first prime of life looked like – to what extent it corresponded to the worldly version of youth, health, wealth, and influence – that we really do not know.  But we do know that these two people had clearly come into the second prime of life.

For one thing, they were truly FAITHFUL PEOPLE.  The Bible says that Simeon was “righteous and devout.”  Which does not mean that he was perfect.  But it does mean that he stayed close to God.  Luke tells us how Anna maintained her intimacy with God.  She was in the temple day and night.  She had established a daily rhythm of worship, prayer, and fasting that built up her spirit even when her body was breaking down.

Second, they were PERSEVERING PEOPLE.  For eighty years Simeon and Anna had kept trusting God.  Through tragedies like the early death of Anna’s husband, and through the long wait between God’s original promise to Simeon and its fulfillment on that first Christmas, these two people persevered in trusting God.

And third, Simeon and Anna were SPIRIT-LED PEOPLE.  Anna was a prophetess.  Which means that she was someone who expected to hear from God, and she was someone who dared to speak for God.  And the Gospel writer Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit rested on Simeon.

Which means that Simeon went places and did things as he sensed the Spirit was directing him.

It is hard to overstate just how much faithfulness, perseverance, and being responsive to the Spirit count with God.  But in this story we see that at a time when the world probably would have regarded them primarily as candidates for senior housing, God chose Simeon and Anna to do one of the most important tasks ever performed in all of human history.  They declared the true identity of Jesus.  They helped Jesus’ parents prepare for what lay ahead.  Simeon said to Mary, “A sword will pierce your soul also.”  And they passed on a blessing, which eventually was passed on to us.

So what about you?  No matter how young or how old you are today, you might be like Simeon and Anna were earlier that day – about to do the greatest and most important thing that you do in life.  Are you in your prime – your first prime?  Are you just coming into your first prime?  Are you in your second prime?  Or do you feel that you are past your prime?

Are you FAITHFUL like Simeon and Anna?  Are you practicing the spiritual disciplines of worship, prayer, and fasting?  Are you nurturing what Luke said Simeon had – a “righteous and devout” spirit?

Are you PERSEVERING like Simeon and Anna?  In spite of all your setbacks, doubts, and questions, are you still waiting for the one who is the hope of us all?  Are you helping others trust in the promises and the good plans of God?

Are you SPIRIT-LED like Simeon and Anna?  Do you have a good word from God that others need to hear?  Are you willing to go where God tells you to go?  Is God calling you, like He called Simeon and Anna, to declare the true identity of Jesus, to help others prepare for what lies ahead, and/or to pass on a word of blessing?

Whether you are just coming into your prime, in your prime, or in your second prime, never see yourself as past your prime.  Rather be like Simeon and Anna.  Faithful, persevering and following the lead of the Spirit wherever you may be in life.  

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

“Rejoice always.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16)

“Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel!”  We sang that hymn next to a grave yesterday, a bitterly cold wind beating on our backs.  Our sister in the faith had died suddenly, grieving us all, but still we called out the truth: Jesus is on His way, and so, even in grief, we rejoice in Him.  

That’s what St. Paul intends by this command.  He’s not calling for Pollyanna thinking, a way to shield ourselves from feeling the pains of our losses.  No, but having just set forth the promise of Christ’s return, he’s telling the believers in Thessaly to confess that gospel in every situation, happy or sad.  Feel the pain, and then meet it with the promise.

So what do you face today?  What sharp winds of challenge, blessing, disappointment, or fear will pound on your heart?  Approach every situation in this conviction: you are one for whom Christ Jesus came to Bethlehem; with you He still abides; and He is on His way to give you a full share in His victory.  What happens today passes away tomorrow, but rejoice!  Emmanuel, God-with-us, God-with-you, is forever.

LET US PRAY: O Lord, as I, with Your Church, prepare to celebrate the birth of Your Son, grant me Your Holy Spirit, that I may see in His first advent the brilliance of His final appearing in glory; and by the promise of that glory, strengthen me to rest and live in hope each day; through Christ my Lord.  Amen

Pastor Steven K. Gjerde

Zion, Wausau  

© 2017

“A voice says, ‘Cry!’”Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” (Isaiah 40:9)

God always wants preachers and teachers and singers and yellers and talkers.  Even before He gave the law to Israel, He first spent a good chapter or so telling the Israelites to teach and share the law.  His most beloved king, David, authored psalms, and King Solomon wrote proverbs; he sent prophets to preach the coming gift of His Son.   Search all the religions of the earth, and you won’t find another God so in love with communicating Himself to His people.

Where there’s speech, there’s a desire for relationship—even hateful words are spoken with a desire to reach out and hurt.  Words reveal that the bond between two parties isn’t over yet; at least one is still in touch.  Wherever speech remains, the possibility of friendship remains.

So now consider what you will hear on Christmas, less than two weeks away: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).  God’s speech, the proof of His desire for you, lives.  He lives eternally, having surpassed even death.  By His life, the Church has something to speak—a good word from God!—and in the Church’s speech, Jesus lives.  Surely, then, God hasn’t given up, not on you and not on the world!

LET US PRAY: Fill all the ears of creation with Your word, O Lord, and open our lips to speak what we have heard, that all the world would know and love Your redeeming friendship; through Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.  Amen

Devotional for the Third Sunday in Advent, December 17, 2017, based upon John 1: 6-8, 19-28

“He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.”  (John 1: 8)

I have read that the Gospel writer John refers to Jesus as the light of the world no fewer than twenty-one times.  No wonder the star shone so brightly over Bethlehem.  No wonder our Christmas trees and our homes are decorated with hundreds of lights.  No wonder we light more Advent candles the closer we come to Christmas.  Light is what Christmas is all about.  Advent is a celebration of light coming into our very dark world.

When John wrote his Gospel, the world was in darkness, just like our world is in darkness today.  John wanted the world to know that a light had come that had penetrated the darkness.  Jesus is the light of the world.  That is good news for this Third Sunday in Advent.

The light of Jesus never stops shining.  Through wars and famine, through fire and flood, through all sorts of natural disasters, through good times as well as through bad, the light continues to shine.  Our parents and grandparents saw its glow in the darkest days of the depression.  Soldiers have seen it on distant battlefields.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.

The darkness of the world cannot extinguish the light of Christ.  It shines in hospital rooms and in funeral homes.  It shines in the midst of poverty, unemployment, hunger, despair, disease, death, and every other kind of heartache, hardship, or setback that you could ever imagine.  It shines in every one of the dark and discouraging situations that you have ever had to deal with.  Nothing can keep it from shining.

The greatest privilege in the world is to share that light with someone else.  “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine,” the song says.  John the Baptist was not the light, just like we are not the light.  His job was to bear witness to the light.  And that is our job as well.

The best gift to give someone who is in darkness is the gift of light.  That is our calling as followers of Jesus.  To let His light shine in us and through us.  To light up the world around us.

“This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.”  That’s what each one of us needs to do this coming week – this coming Christmas season.  Let the light of Christ shine through you.

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

“. . . the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . .”  (1 Corinthians 1:7)

We sometimes speak of the “coming” or “second coming” of Jesus.  Another way to describe it is to speak of His “revealing.”

Imagine children gathering for a party.  As they come into the room, they see a large box, far larger than any of them, gift-wrapped and waiting to be opened.  They cannot see what’s in the box, but they know it will be good!  The gift is there, very near, and their enjoyment of it is certain—they already enjoy it, just knowing it’s there and ready for them!  But still they await its revealing.     

So it goes with our Lord Jesus Christ.  He is here, very near, speaking in the words that He’s given, poured out in the water, giving His flesh and blood beneath the bread and wine, and abiding in the body and soul of His people—He’s wrapped up in His Church!  We enjoy His presence, and His nearer presence is certain.  Yet still we wait for the day when what we believe shall become sight.

Take time this Advent to pause and wait on Him.  As you hear those words, touch that water, eat and drink that Supper, and love His people, be sure to praise and thank Him who personally dwells in and through it all.  You shall see Him soon, and how your eyes shall rejoice on that day!

LET US PRAY: Blessed are You, Lord Jesus, who has come to dwell among us.  Reveal Your sacred face at last, and by Your glory liberate this whole creation from the shadows that cover it; from Your live and reign with the Father and Holy Spirit, one God forever.  Amen

Pastor Steven K. Gjerde

Zion, Wausau

(c) 2017

E-MAIL FROM GOD

Devotional based upon Isaiah 40: 1-11

How many unwanted telemarketing calls, how much junk mail, and how many unrequested email messages do you receive every day?  While we are sorting through all of this clutter, it would be easy for us to overlook the encouragement mail e-mail that we receive from God.  On this Second Sunday in Advent your Heavenly Father is sending you some encouragement mail e-mail.  And He does not want you to miss it or delete it.

Many scholars believe that Isaiah 40 and following were written during the Babylonian captivity in the sixth century B. C.  Israel needed encouragement.  For fifty years they had been captive in Babylon – in present day Iraq.  They were living in tough times and were feeling displaced and discouraged.  So God through His prophet was sending them some encouragement.

We also are living in very tough times.  Many feel displaced and discouraged.  So God is sending us some encouragement e-mail.  “Comfort, O comfort my people,” the prophet begins.  And then he gives us four words of encouragement and comfort.

First, A WORD OF PARDON.  Verse 2 – “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, her penalty has been paid, she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”  Israel is like an inmate whose time in prison is about to be over.

For centuries before the Babylonian captivity, Israel had been unfaithful to their God.  They had been following after the false gods of their day and practicing a social injustice that only made the rich richer and the poor poorer.  They had been guilty of gross immorality.  So for the past several decades they had been paying the price for their sins.  They had been held captive in a foreign land, and were being compelled to serve a hated people.  They needed to receive encouragement mail from God.

And we also need to receive encouragement mail from God.  We also need the message that our God is a God who will forgive.  Realizing our sin, we cry for mercy.  We need to hear that God’s deepest desire is not to condemn but to forgive and to save.

Second, A WORD OF PROMISE.  Verse 3 – “A voice cries out: In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”  When we are in the deepest of distress, God comes to us with His greatest of help.  Like He did for the Israelites in Egypt, and like He will do for the Israelites who are being held captive in Babylon, God hears our cries and knows our misfortunes.  He comes to us at our time of greatest need.

This email from God says, “Get ready; get straight with God by repenting.”  One of the main messages of Advent is that one of the main ways in which we need to get ready for Christmas is by repenting.  Repent means to change your mind.  Change your mind about sin.  Stop doing what you need to stop doing, and start doing what you need to start doing.  Stop walking on the crooked path and start walking on the straight path.  For the e-mail from God to be encouragement mail, we need to repent.  And we need to repent today.

Third, A WORD OF SECURITY.  Verse 8 – “The grass withers, the flower fades; but the Word of our God will stand forever.”

Life is short.  You do not have as many years left as you once did.  As the beloved hymn says, “Change and decay in all around I see.”  The only thing certain is uncertainty.

This encouragement mail e-mail from God says, The only thing absolutely safe and secure is the Word of God.  God’s Word is as sure as God Himself.   God’s truth is an everlasting truth.  His Word contains His promises, and He always keeps His promises.

To have certainty in life and security in changing times, we need strong convictions based upon God’s Word.  We need to know what we believe and why.  Those who put their trust in God and His Word will find stability in life.

Fourth, A WORD OF HOPE.  Verse 9 – “Here is your God!”  He is coming in strength, and He is coming in love.  Verse 11 – “He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in His arms; He will gently lead the mother sheep.”

People ask, Is there any hope?  This encouragement mail e-mail from God says, “Yes, there is hope.  Here is your God.”  He is greater than your problems.  He can hold your world together.  He is the answer to all of your needs.  There is no problem so complex that He cannot solve and no pit so deep that He is not deeper still.

A word of pardon, a word of promise, a word of security, and a word of hope.  Which word do you most need to hear from God today?  Whichever word you most need to hear God has for you today.

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

“Come,” He replied, “and you will see.” (John 1:39)

Our Lord spoke these words to St. Andrew, whose feast day is today (Nov. 30).  Church tradition often calls Andrew “the first called,” because he is the first disciple to whom Christ says “come” in the Gospel of John.  

In this invitation, we see more than just a call to Andrew.  We also see the simple truth that Jesus has no desire to hide anything from His disciples, but to be perfectly open and even vulnerable to them—indeed, He puts His life in their hands: “Take, eat, this is my body, given for you.”   

How fitting, then, that St. Andrew’s feast day stands at the joint where one Church Year turns to another.  For what is the preaching of the Church but Jesus laying Himself bare?  And what is the Church Year but a year-long sermon series on Christ and His kingdom?  

“Come, and you will see.”  It’s God’s promise to every sinner who calls on the name of the Lord.  You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

LET US PRAY:  We thank you, Lord, for Andrew, whom You graciously called to share in Your life.   Pour out Your Holy Spirit on Your Church, that this new year of preaching will lay bare the glory of Your Gospel for all who hear it; for You live and reign with the Father and Holy Spirit.  Amen

Pastor Steven K. Gjerde

Zion, Wausau